Jump Start # 665

Ephesians 6:10 ^“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might.”

The apostle Paul wraps up his letter to the Ephesians with one final grand admonition to the church. Be strong, he tells them. What follows is that wonderful section commonly called “the Christian armor.” Put on the full armor of God the apostle tells the brethren. Like a coach inspiring his team, or a parent talking to his child, Paul encourages these brethren to:

· Stand firm (11, 13. 14)

· Resist the evil one (13)

· Extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one (16)

Spiritual strength is what leads all of this. Without strength one will not be able to stand firm. They can not resist nor extinguish flaming arrows without strength. This is where it all begins. For too long, congregations have not taken this seriously. As long as folks show up, that’s about all that is expected of them. Paul didn’t think so. He wanted the brethren to be strong.  Weak members make a weak church.

The Olympics these days remind us of the importance of strength. Before us, each night on TV, are the world’s best. These athletes have dedicated themselves to training. Hours and hours, and days and days, and months and months of training, practicing, meets have taken place. We witness physical strength at its best.

Spiritual strength, likewise doesn’t just happen. There are things that have to be done. When they are, what a blessing spiritual strength is. Knowledge of God’s word allows you to recognize right and wrong. You can help people understand the Bible. Remember the Ethiopian reading Isaiah in his chariot. He didn’t understand what he was reading. Philip came along. Philip did. He had spiritual strength. His strength not only gave the answers that the Ethiopian was looking for, it led to the conversion of the eunuch. How different this story would have been had Philip said, “I don’t know who Isaiah is talking about?” Or, worse, had he just made a guess and been wrong. Spiritual strength is based upon Biblical knowledge. That knowledge opens doors and opens eyes. A person can read something in a book and immediately recognize that it is correct with what the Bible says or it is off track.

Spiritual strength is more than just knowledge of the book. That’s where it begins. It is also using that strength in the forms of courage, teaching, standing up for what is right, leadership and helping others to grow. Strength is only valuable if it is used. The Olympians work out with the goal of competing. They use their strength. Paul had this in mind when he said resist and extinguish. That’s putting the strength to practice. Jumping in and teaching a Bible class, spending time with others to help them become better, developing people, serving as an elder, or deacon—these are a few ways we use spiritual strength. The greatest way is courageously standing up for God. Satan is alive and well and is trying to get a foothold in many congregations. Weak and indifferent brethren will hold the door open for him. The strong will recognize when things are not according to God’s word. Different and change are often covers for unscriptural and wrong. Many do not recognize that. Many go along with that. Many see no harm. The strong does. The strong keeps us on course with God. Ancient mariners who got off course just slightly often got terribly lost at sea. It didn’t take much. Staying the course is vital. Spiritual strength are the ones who need to be at the helm when the ship gets off.

Spiritual strength takes time. It takes work. It takes spending time with the Bible. Thinking. Reading. Underling. Taking notes. Asking questions. Chasing down thoughts and ideas. Connecting dots. Before long, you start to see how everything is connected. You see what it was that Jesus was after. You see what the apostles were teaching. Your learning takes you from knowledge to wisdom to becoming. It affects you. It changes you. You get excited about what you see and learn. It drives you to want to learn more. You invest in some good study tools that will help you. You share what you’ve learned with others. It changes your marriage and parenting. It shapes your heart. You start to see doors of opportunity all around you. The heart of a servant becomes your heart. You are busy doing things for others. You are amazed at the passion, zeal and drive that you have found. You love being a Christian.

One of the best ways this strength comes from is by teaching. You study and study and prepare and anticipate questions and think and write and chase rabbits in your study and shape it up for a class or a lesson or a sermon. You find that you can’t use all that you have, so you must trim out things here and there. But all through this process you are learning, growing and becoming. The class you teach helps you become strong. A question is asked. You know the answer. Someone offers a different view, you steer the ship back to the right course. You know what to do. You are at the helm. Strength will do that.

Be strong—what simple words. What profound impact they have. Weak brethren are constantly stumbling and tripping over temptation. Weak minds give weak ideas and weak answers and weak conclusions. It’s the strong that makes the difference. It’s the strong that leads the way.

You can be strong—Paul said so.  Be strong!

Roger